Fundraising by existing investment trusts more than doubled in the first six months of 2026, reaching £575m compared with £221m a year earlier, according to figures from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).
Seraphim Space Investment Trust led the way with £137m, followed by two debt-sector trusts, TwentyFour Income Fund and Invesco Bond Income Plus, which raised £98m and £85m respectively. A further £742m of shares were reissued from treasury, though the sector saw no IPOs during the period.
Share buybacks remained substantial at £4.10bn, albeit down 14% from £4.77bn in the first half of 2025. The period also saw three sizeable tender offers, the largest from Impax Environmental Markets at £733m, alongside BlackRock Smaller Companies (£163m) and Vietnam Enterprise Investments (£147m).
Corporate activity continued apace, with the AIC recording three mergers, three acquisitions and six liquidations, the latter down sharply from 11 in the same period last year. Notable consolidations included BlackRock Smaller Companies absorbing BlackRock Throgmorton, while British Land’s acquisition of Life Science REIT was among the deals to complete.
There were also several major milestones for investment trusts in the first half of 2026, with Vietnam Holding celebrating its 20th anniversary and Finsbury Growth & Income Trust and Temple Bar marking their centenaries.
Performance was solid, with the average investment trust returning 9.4% over the half, led by the Technology & Technology Innovation sector. The average discount narrowed from 12.3% to 11.6%, briefly touching single digits in May, its narrowest level since 2022.
Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s been a busy period for corporate activity, though the number of liquidations has fallen compared to last year. Fundraising by existing trusts has more than doubled and the rate of share buybacks, though still historically high, has subsided a little year-on-year.”
“We’ve seen the average investment trust discount at the narrowest levels in nearly four years. While the sector remains exposed, as ever, to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, strong fundraising by several popular investment trusts gives us good reason to be optimistic about the future.”